Employing people in Romania: salary costs and working rules

Establish who employs and where the work happens

Start with the employing legal entity, the employee’s physical work location and the applicable social-security system. A foreign employment contract does not automatically keep Romanian work outside Romanian payroll. EU coordination and bilateral agreements can change coverage, but the certificate and the actual conditions must support the position.

A contractor arrangement also needs substance. Fiscal Code article 7 lists independence criteria and requires at least four; the written title is not decisive. Control over time and method, business risk, equipment and the ability to work for others are among the relevant factors. Misclassification can undermine the tax, employment and immigration plan at once.

2026 payroll layers and caps

Ordinary salary is generally subject to 25% employee CAS, 10% employee CASS and 2.25% employer CAM. Their ordinary salary bases do not carry the investment-income CASS cap. Employers can owe additional pension contributions of 4% or 8% for the statutory special working-condition categories. The precise classification requires occupational evidence; it is not chosen to fit a budget.

The standard employer cash subtotal is gross salary plus applicable employer charges. It does not capture paid leave, sick-pay responsibilities, occupational health, equipment, recruitment, payroll administration, benefits or termination obligations. A total-cost proposal should list these separately. This guide does not offer a net-pay engine for every employee status.

The minimum wage changed during 2026

The general minimum gross base salary was RON 4,050 per month in the first half of 2026 and is RON 4,325 from 1 July 2026 under Government Decision 146/2026, excluding bonuses and additions. The decision specifies an average 166.667-hour month and RON 25.949 per hour. Sector-specific minima and the rule limiting how long an employee may remain at the minimum require their own check.

Conditional low-wage tax/contribution relief is not an allowance for every employee. Likewise, a contribution minimum-base adjustment for certain part-time arrangements is not a universal hourly tax formula. The shared data preserves the general dates/rates, but leaves deductions, exceptions and international coverage out of any automatic calculator.

Contracts, hours and leave

The employment relationship should be documented and registered before work begins under the applicable Labour Code and REGES-ONLINE requirements. Agree the actual role, workplace/remote-work arrangements, pay, hours, leave and probation in the contract. Immigration eligibility must be established before treating the person as ready to start.

The ordinary full-time pattern is eight hours a day and 40 a week. Maximum working time generally averages 48 hours including overtime under the applicable reference-period rules. Overtime compensation, daily/weekly rest and night work have separate provisions; a senior-sounding job title is not a general exemption. Annual paid leave is at least 20 working days under article 145, with statutory and contractual additions where applicable.

Termination is a legal process, not a payroll adjustment. The reason, notice, protected periods, required documentation and any collective obligations must be checked before communicating a decision. Plan the handover of employment records, leave balances and final pay while also reviewing immigration consequences for sponsored staff.

Foreign hires after the 2026 reform

The current framework distinguishes employer-led D/AM1 applications, including highly qualified staff, from D/AM2 arrangements involving authorised employers or placement agencies for the relevant categories. WorkinRomania and REGES-ONLINE evidence are part of the current process. Reusing an old work-permit checklist without checking the 27 April 2026 reform and transition can leave the employer on the wrong route.

For highly qualified employment, the current primary text requires a qualifying full-time contract of at least six months or indefinite duration, professional evidence and salary at least the applicable average gross earnings benchmark. The employer’s recruitment/availability evidence is also relevant. Confirm the benchmark in force for the filing instead of using a fluctuating euro conversion or an old year’s number.

What a workable hiring plan contains

Ask for a written allocation of responsibilities: who signs the contract, registers the worker, submits payroll, remits tax, maintains personnel records and handles an address or role change. If the employer is foreign, establish whether a local registration or intermediary is needed rather than assuming the worker can solve every obligation through an annual return.

We can coordinate the international structure and implementation with the appropriate local payroll, employment and immigration specialists. The useful outcome is a compliant hiring process and a documented ongoing schedule. Our professional scope and third-party fees should be agreed for the actual workforce, not inferred from a public salary-tax percentage.